North Somerset Council (NSC) has produced Local Plan that identifies locations for around an additional 8,500 new homes in the NSC area over the next 15 years (this is on top of the target of 15,000 new homes in North Somerset set by the previous government*). The plan includes recommendations to build 1,060 houses on four areas of Green Belt land around Pill, Ham Green and Easton-in-Gordano.  This would increase the number of homes by around 40% threatening to turn our small, friendly village into a fragmented suburb of Bristol and destroy acres of beautiful green space. It will also put huge pressure on existing infrastructure, particularly roads.

The proposed sites are: 

• From (but not including) Pill Village Green to the A369 (600 houses) - ref HE2015
• Land at Lodway Farm (160 houses) - ref HE20491
• Land by Gordano Services (200 houses) - ref HE206
• Pill Road opposite St Katherine’s School (100 houses) - ref  HE201097

There is definitely a need for more housing, particularly affordable housing, in North Somerset. However, in our view, the number of proposed for Pill is completely out of proportion with the size of the village. We believe that the additional housing should be more fairly shared across North Somerset.

North Somerset Council ran a consultation about the Local Plan proposals from the 7th Feb to the 21st of March 2025, however it was poorly publicised and conversations with local residents suggest very few people knew about the consultation or the extent of the proposals. NSC received a maximum of only 29 consultation responses to the proposals for each site.  Several responses were from businesses who would benefit from the development going ahead. 

We need to act fast if we want the planners to reduce the number of proposed homes before the NSC cabinet vote to approve this Local Plan on the 10th of September. Update: The NSC council sadly approved the Local Plan on 15 October with no change to the number of sites or dwellings around the village. A Public Consultation is now open until 12 December 2025 into the soundness of the plan. It is still possible to influence the shape of the Local Plan. Residents are working together to find ways to do this.

By signing and sharing this petition, you are:

• Objecting to excessive house building around our Village
• Challenging the lack of adequate initial consultation by NSC
• Standing up for our community
• Showing NSC the strength of feeling in the Village about this

Please sign and share this petition and make sure you also sign up for campaign updates and information about any public meetings and ways you can help. 

*This figure has been added in for clarity.